Friday, June 20, 2003

GMO Talks Collapse -- NY Times. The Bushies' insistence on allowing evil American agribusiness to keep pissing in the world's gene pool ranks high in their enormous list of atrocities. Europe continues to stand up to them; let's hope that this leads to the end of the WTO. I don't think the European public would stand for that non-democratic, secretive organ of corporate empire to force frankenfoods down their throats.

The Times is shameless enough to say this:
Genetically modified food — which can grow more quickly than traditional crops and can be resistant to insects — has caused scant controversy in the United States, where people eat it every day. Almost 40 percent of all corn planted in this country in genetically modified.

There has been scant controversy because our corporate media, including the Times, has not been doing its job. While Clinton debated gays in the military and millions watched the OJ trial, Monsanto was creating "Roundup ready" corn and plants with built-in insecticides, and immediately selling seeds to farmers across the country with almost no investigation into their possible effects on the ecosystem. With a little cross pollination, we may soon have "Roundup ready" dandelions, and many species of plants killing off the very insects they need for pollination and perpetuating their own species. In other words, these crops pose a very real threat to life on the planet. Of course, I don't know that for sure, but Bush doesn't know otherwise for sure. But we already know that he doesn't care about the future of the planet.